MARY Stevens Hospice in Stourbridge has celebrated the 1,000th draw of its weekly lottery which has pulled in more than £11million over the last 19 years.

Hospice fundraisers say the lottery has been a "massive success" over the years, helping to raise much-needed funds to enable Mary Stevens to provide care for terminally ill people from across the borough and surrounding areas.

And there were celebrations at the Oldswinford hospice yesterday (Tuesday September 1) as the button was pushed for the 1,000th lottery draw.

Diane Moore, lottery field manager, said: “Our 1,000th draw is a remarkable achievement and something we are extremely proud to be celebrating

"The Mary Stevens Hospice lottery has been a massive success and members of the community have supported us on a weekly basis, many of them purely as a means of donating an affordable £1 per week to the charity, rather than wanting or expecting to win the £2,000 jackpot prize."

To mark the milestone, an additional prize draw for 1,000 qualifying hospice supporters was also held for a chance to win a 32” TV - donated by sponsors Chapmans, The Electrical People, based in Cradley Heath.

Black Country businessman and long-standing hospice supporter Geoff Hill was the driving force behind the founding of the hospice lottery in 1996 as a way of creating a regular source of income to contribute towards the charity's annual £2.8m running costs as the Government provides just 20 per cent of its funding.

The hospice has been providing free palliative care for adults aged 17 years and over, as well as supporting the families of patients, for more than 23 years - first through its day care unit and since 1999 its ten-bed in-patient unit.

And it is currently trialling a partnership scheme, the Dudley Macmillan Specialist Care at Home Service, with The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, Macmillan Cancer Support and Dudley CCG which aims to transform end of life care by offering patients more treatment and support at home or in community settings.